Ex-NBA Player Damon Jones Pleads Guilty To Illegal Gambling

Former NBA Player Damon Jones Arraigned On Gambling Charges — Source: Andres Kudacki / Getty

While his contemporaries are battling it out in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Damon Jones has a much bigger legal fight going on.

The former NBA player and assistant has pleaded guilty in the illegal gambling probe that spread across the NBA earlier this season.

The United States Attorney’s Office confirmed that on Tuesday, Jones pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy in two separate New York cases.

One count was for his role in a scheme involving NBA “teams, players, and coaches, to profit from illegal betting activity.”

That dates back to his time as a volunteer assistant coach with the Lakers from 2022 to 2023. Most notably, before a Feb. 9 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Jones alerted his co-conspirators that LeBron James wouldn’t be playing, ahead of public knowledge, because of a foot injury.

Messages reveal he told a bettor to “get a big bet on Milwaukee before the information is out!” and to “Bet enough so Djones can eat to now!!!”

Now he’s apologizing and owning up to using “insider information that I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player.”

“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers, and also the National Basketball Association,” he told the court.

The other count, which came in a separate hearing, was for participating in a scheme to rig illegal poker games nationwide. From 2020 through 2023, Jones participated in three poker games—two in Miami and one in the Hamptons.

He played the role of a “face card,” so his job was just to use his star power and connections to bring in his deep-pocketed friends. They would get cheated out of their money, while he would get paid for luring them in. Victims included “money launderers, and members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families.”

“I knew these games were rigged and players were being cheated,” Jones said.

Now Jones waits for sentencing, which isn’t until Jan. 6, 2027. The charges normally yield between 21 and 27 months for the NBA betting charge and 63 to 78 months for the poker game offense. But the prosecutors will recommend to the judge that Jones get 15 months taken off his sentence for accepting their plea offer by April 30.

See social media’s reactions to the guilty plea below.